Ave atque vale- the final crossing
by Don't-Insult-My-OTP
Summary: Jem has finally been taken by the darkness and arrives at the river bank that separates the dead from the living where his Parabatai has waited for him so they can make the final crossing together "You have kept me waiting for a very long time James Carstairs," epic feels-
1. Chapter 1

**heya- so I recently saw a piece of fanart where Jem and Will reunite at the river that seperates the dead and the living and it was too adorable so i needed to work through some serious parabatai feels**

Tessa stayed at Jem's side as he died as she had at Wills. His black hair silver with age and the lines blemished his once radiant skin, The light had never faded from his eyes, whether they were silver of brown. Over the years many aspects of Jem had changed; through sickness, the brotherhood, the death of his Parabatai, through heavenly fire but something's could never be affected.

She read to him as he died, just as he had once played for Will. She told him the story of two friends that loved a girl, of a divided heart. Jem had survived longer then he had ever meant to, he had outlived those he had loved and watched them die but as he finally faded from the world a slight smile curved his lips. He would once again be at his brother's side,

Jem's eyes fluttered to a close, the end had finally dawned. The darkness he had been fighting since he was twelve years old finally claimed him. He found himself at the river bank that divided the world of the dead from the living. A desperate hope that had ignited in his blood flared at the thought of who waited for him. They had always planned to cross together

"You have kept me waiting for a very long time James Carstairs." Jem could hear the cocky grin, the familiar voice that had guided him for a many years. He turned slowly to finally see the Parabatai he had lost too long ago.

"You waited for me," Jem's voice was a whisper as he confronted the beautiful seventeen year old boy before him. Will was as he had been the last time Jem could see him, with his own eyes and not through those of the Brotherhood.

Will had his hands tucked into the pockets of his trousers, his white shirt undone at the top and rolled up to his elbows. The inky black marks of the Nephilim familiar on his arms and hands. He lounged casually against a tree, not even death could change him

His black hair was tousled and fell across his face, the high cheekbones, the straight nose and the beautiful dark blue eyes, the colour of a deep space nebula or the deepest body of water. His eyes had regained the vibrancy of youth and the wicked smile. Jem was once again seventeen but as he should have been with dark hair and brown eyes. As if he had never been poisoned with Yin-fen

"We cross together- it doesn't matter who died first or how long I had to wait because we are brothers and we go together on to the next adventure. To Cecily, Henry, Charlotte, Sophie, the Lightworms- we shall reunite with all of them and then one day, Tessa will join us."

A small smile, a real smile graced Will's lips as he remembered times when they all lived together at the institute.

"Together," Jem confirmed, grinning at his Parabatai "or where you just too scared to cross for fear of the ducks that may haunt the river?" Will arched an eyebrow,

"This isn't the river to hell or eternal damnation," Will quipped, it was almost as if no time had passed.

"Remember when you tried to convince me to feed a poultry pie to the mallards in the park to see if you could breed a race of cannibal ducks?" Jem joked, bright brown eyes alight. A mysterious silver gleam in his gaze

"They ate it too," Will reminisced "Bloodthirsty little beasts. Never trust a duck," his bright blue eyes were swimming with unshed tears as they relived the past.

He had waited for so long to find peace, to cross the river and reunite his sisters and his friends, even the Lightwoods but he wouldn't cross, couldn't cross until Jem had arrived.

Will approached Jem on the bank, holding out a hand

"deinde ad orbem terrarium," Will spoke softly, his eyes gleamed

"Come on Brother," they turned towards the river, hand in hand to face the next challenges as they always had and as they waded into the river neither registered the slight hiss of their Parabatai runes as they were reunited in death

-X-

Tessa cried over his body, she had found two great loves in her life and then she had lost both of them. Her body was wracked with helpless sobs as her life would continue with no foreseeable end. She longed to be mortal, to live and then die. she could not bear the agony of losing both of her two loves, each had held her heart and it had died with them. Mortals thought immortality was such a gift but they did not know the pain of losing the ones they loved, she would remain frozen in time, alone. she didn't even have the comfort of brother Zachariah, she couldn't remember being this alone.

then she noticed the rune that Jem had treasured the most, the sacred mark that had faded many years ago. The Rune had darkened, jet black against his skin as it had been when Will and Jem had been united in life

which meant that two halves of the same soul had finally found each other in death

they were together and Tessa, despite the agony and her sobs, she smiled. For when she finally left this world, they would all be together again. With that thought she could bear the unbearable and continue to live until the darkness finally claimed her and she was with the two boys that had left her torn, the two boys that had saved her and had been saving her since she was sixteen.

and she would see them again- see Will again, see Jem

she would laugh with them, dance with them, be with them, she would look into Wills beautiful eyes and hear Jem's gentle words

and that thought gave her the strength she so desperately needed as she murmured into the darkness

"Ave atque vale,"

 **latin translation- on to the next world**

 **thank you for reading, there may be a follow up for when Tessa finally united with jem and will, ot really sure. if you like this please fave and follow and i have written other stories for avengers and Suicide squad if you want to check them out and i am currently working on several TID oneshots.**

 **bye!**

 **X**


	2. Chapter 2

Tessa Gray sat at the small table of her flat in silence, surveying the notes and books that lay scattered across the wooden surface. Old copies of classics, fading letters and greying photographs that spanned eras lost to living memory. Her ethereal gray eyes fixed on the sheet of paper that sat before her, a pen positioned over the paper.

Tessa had spent the last month travelling; New York, France and London. London was the city that tore her heart as she relived the key moments of her life, piecing the moments together that made her who she was. She visited old friends, a few where still living but most of them where crumbling tombstones or the ashes that made up the city of bones.

She had waited until this day to write the note, the final letter and tribute to those that remained. She inhaled deeply before her hand started to move across the paper.

 _To whomever it may concern,_

 _I have lived for many lifetimes and this is my record of that life, the evidence that I walked this earth and breathed its air. I scrawl this note by my own hand on the 10_ _th_ _of November, before I make my final decision. I have lived for many years and enquired and learned much about the world, I now have no more questions to ask, So I shall move on to the next._

 _I have been fortunate and unfortunate in life, I found two great loves and I have lost both._

 _One of them was a burning wildfire, a beauty that would rival the angels with the words that could tumble an empire. God's own creation of black and blue, the cursed boy with a selfless heart and quick tongue who never failed to make me smile. He shared my love of books; he could understand the beauty of written words and poetry like no one else._

 _When others saw him as a poison, I saw him as he truly was. My Knight, my Sydney Carton. I loved every part of him, the eyes like blue glass and the smile that could rival Lucifer with all its wicked glee._

 _The other was as steady as a candle, constant and honest. He was gentle and kind, a warrior with a musician's heart. He always knew what to say and do. He possessed the other side of my heart when his Parabatai claimed the other. However time was against us, for him to live we had to be divided for what seemed eternity._

 _When we were finally reunited, we only had a few decades before I would lose him too. I knew the pain, I knew what would happen but I couldn't stay away, not when I had another chance to live._

 _I have spent my last few months on earth reliving the past; I have travelled across the world. As I walked through London I could still hear the shatter of a jug and the violin music that had once filled the Institute._

 _I have nothing left to see or say on earth. My heart was torn apart when I was sixteen, ripped in two never to be repaired._

 _There is no one left that cares for me- no one left on earth and if no one cares for you, do you even really exist at all?_

 _I have been alone for far too long, it was books that have kept me alive. I could find solace in the characters for a short while, but that time has passed and now so must I._

 _It has been a pleasure to live amongst you, to fight beside you and for you, to love and to live._

 _I go in peace, my mind rested with my heart settled,_

 _"_ _It is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."_

 _Tessa Herondale-Carstairs nee Gray_

 _Ave Atque vale and goodbye_


End file.
